US Offshore Online Casinos

Frequently, players inquire about the precise nature of offshore online casinos. They also want to know how to identify the top choice for gameplay.

This question mostly arise for players where their place of residence has gambling laws which are rather strict in application locally, but do not apply abroad. In particular, 95% of all Players in the US have the ability and opportunity to play at offshore online casinos, whilst the remainder have both onshore and offshore available.

The term offshore means, an entity that is created, licensed and regulated outside of the local law. The purpose of creating an entity offshore are many, some include tax concessions, liberal laws, enhanced protection of privacy, and lower capital requirements in the case of financial institutions.

In relation to online casinos, being based offshore, enables a legal avenue to operating online and providing the gaming needs to many people around the world.

The meaning of offshore online casino invokes a connotation that is usually a scam or reeking of dishonesty. However this could not be further from the truth.

Most active offshore gambling US states from 2003 – 2019

As you can see from the above graph, gambling at offshore casinos have been prevalent since 2003 with the top 10 active states in 2019 being:

California
New York
Texas
Florida
Illinois
Massachusetts
Pennsylvania
Ohio
Washington
Virginia

In total, activity in the United States at offshore casinos have been fluctuating with a noticeable dip after 2006 when the UIGEA was enforced.

Creation of Offshore Online Casinos

Historically offshore online casinos were associated with charlatans who arranged schemes aimed at cheating players. Offshore can be applied to many “exotically” structured financing arrangements. Technically the term “offshore” simply means based outside of the country, but it has gained a meaning to imply that tax concessions, lax regulatory laws, and/or has laws which protects it’s owners and investors.

Many rich and famous have created financially complex corporate structures that reside offshore. Even the large IT companies, such as Google, Facebook and Apple have structured their organizations to include offshore entities. Google is a perfect example, whereby their offshore entity is in Ireland, which provides for generous tax advantages.

Offshore online casinos follow a similar strategic pattern. They are legitimate business that achieve savings based offshore but must adhere to the offshore countries laws and often continue to face strict regulatory and compliance requirements.

The creation of an offshore online casino is not easy. Many checks and balances are put in place to ensure a legitimate business is being run, and that there is sufficient capital to keep the business running. So offshore localities specialize with casino compliance and regulations and therefore create economies of scale for drawing many casino operators.

Offshore Online Casinos Locality

Any country has the ability to create a economic zone. You may be familiar with Gibraltar, part of British Territory which many Insurance and Reinsurance companies flock to, for the tax concessions and strong regulatory requirements.

In regards to online casinos, one of the most popular territories can be found in Canada! This would surprise many US players, that a neighboring country is the home for many online casinos. Kahnawake Mohawk is a territory in Canada which houses over 50 online gaming operators – many of which are online casinos.

The Kahnawake Mohawk, uniquely abides by a constitution which enables it to set it’s own laws, separate from other provinces in Canada. This is a very complex and unclear area of the law, but in summary, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission was established in 1996 as the regulatory and began issuing licenses for online gaming. Their licenses include online casino, sports betting, poker sites and bingo.

Other Offshore localities include Malta and Ireland.

Top 5 US Offshore Online Casinos

	CASINO	RATING	BONUS	PLAY
1	Vegas Casino Online	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	400% up to $10,000 Welcome Bonus	PLAY NOW
2	Slots Empire	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	220% up to $1,000 Welcome Bonus	PLAY NOW
3	El Royale Casino	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	250% up to $12,500 Welcome Bonus	PLAY NOW
4	Red Dog Casino	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	225% up to $1,000 Welcome Bonus	PLAY NOW
5	Slots.lv	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	200% up to $1,000 Welcome Bonus	PLAY NOW

Can I trust Offshore Online Casinos?

Irrespective of whether an entity is based onshore or offshore, you should also be thorough with researching and reviewing online casinos. This is the same for any online purchase of service or goods. I personally have been scammed from a US company that produced Tracking Tiles for lost keys, wallets and other personal belongings. I purchase over $100USD worth for personal use and gifts for friends and family, to only find that on receipt they didn’t work! My point is, even US onshore companies can pose a risk.

In finding a safe online casino to play at (irrespective of where they are based), we value these principles.

Honesty – the casino is honest and upfront with answering queries and have a reputation of doing so. This can easily be reviewed, with the number of casino forums, and player reviews.
Audited – the online casino is subject to annual or regular audits by the regulator in which it operates.
License – the online casino is required to purchase a license to be established in the locality. Without the need to purchase a license, this raises doubts in regards to the legitimacy of the regulator, and/or indicates that the online casino operator is not genuine.
Game Software – well known and trusted software providers are employed to provide quality gaming.
Payment methods – Deposit and withdrawal methods are well known, trusted, reliable, secure and widely accepted.

For any online casino, if they do not list clearly the above features, or have them available on the internet, then there is a risk at playing at that casino.

Why should I play at an offshore online casino?

There are several reasons for playing at an offshore online casino.

The first and most honest answer is that offshore online casinos can legally operate in their offshore locality, abiding by the laws in their locality, while still have the ability to accept players from abroad. This does not mean that they are illegal. Far from it. In fact if they operated onshore they would be deemed illegal and therefore they are forced to be offshore.

Doesn’t this mean it’s illegal for then for me to play? No. This does not mean that as a play it is illegal for you to play at. Often laws created prevent a player from play with an onshore online casino, but not offshore. In the US, you will find the popularity of offshore online casinos booming. For the vast majority of US States, there has been no precedence of any player being charged with online gambling.

The second reason is (as alluded to in the previous paragraph) it is usually clear in US State gambling laws, that playing at an onshore online casino is illegal.

Moving on from the legality, there are many benefits other Player benefits.

Firstly, the economies of scale that a casino site provides cannot be bettered by any land based casino. There is no overheads such as rent, restaurants, employees, cleaning, machines and equipment. The lower overhead costs, allows for the provision of bigger and better bonuses to players.

Secondly, the game selection cannot be beaten. Online gaming knows no bounds. Limited only imagination, software developers are creating all sorts of different gaming themes, design, game play and awesome sounds.

Lastly, it cannot be any more convenient. 24/7 game play at the convenience of playing at your home, at work, even in the bathroom. Where ever you go, as long as you have a playing device, you can play.

How do I choose the best offshore online casino?

Find the best offshore online casino is not easy. That’s why we have done all the hard work for you. Without going into overwhelming detail, by far the majority of the safest and honest online casinos have a history of being great online gaming providers. Yes, there are some smaller less established online casinos which are also fantastic, however, these tend to be the exception rather than the norm.

Our list of offshore online casinos, are easily the most popular among US Players and have the highest customer satisfaction.